"The Decider Skills are a highly effective and essential set of core skills that could be of value to many prisoners."

Dr David Briggs, Forensic Clinical Psychologist:

“One striking thing about The Decider Skills is that many prisoners remember the detail of sessions. The sessions offer a psychological education that is straightforward to engage with and offering something for people with various learning styles. As a learning tool it’s one that prisoners find credible and are comfortable using.

I specialise with high risk offenders – clients who have difficulties with emotional regulation and problem solving – all of which is tackled in the Decider Skills sessions. The skills taught are effectively a way of prisoners ‘arming’ themselves with the skills needed to intervene and interrupt negative behaviour – they are a gateway to impulse control and can offer an early intervention. Importantly, once people feel in control of their own impulses and emotions they are then often more confident to move on to look at other issues – like sexuality, or violence.

Lower risk offenders need low intensity intervention, and can even be in danger of being over treated. With high risk offenders you need high intensity intervention. Decider Kills could be a key component of their intervention.

I would say that Decider Skills are a highly effective and essential set of core skills that could be of value to many prisoners.”

Dr David Briggs, Forensic Clinical Psychologist, offers consultancy, training and support to prison and probation staff across the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.